The Ways of the Worlds
by Christina Hilt
Summary: Book 2 in the Winds of Change universe. Hermione's world has changed forever, following the events of her sixth year at Hogwarts.


**The Ways of the Worlds** **

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Disclaimer **

Most of the characters and places used in the Winds of Change universe are taken directly from J.K.Rowling's Harry Potter series. I give her full credit (and adoration) for them!

There are many places and people I have created on my own, to add to her world, and I request that you respect this.

**WARNING:**

**THIS BOOK CONTAINS SUBJECTS THAT MAY BE CONSIDERED OFFENSIVE TO SOME. IF PORTRAYING THE HARRY POTTER CHARACTERS IN ADULT SITUATIONS WOULD BE OFFENSIVE TO YOU, PLEASE DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER.**

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Preface **

This is Book Two in The Winds of Change (TWOC) Universe.

The series starts at the beginning of Harry, Ron and Hermione's sixth year at Hogwarts, and was written after Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Book 4). J.K.R.'s later books do not fit with this series, and there are huge discrepancies between the two universes. Don't worry about it! The TWOC universe does not deal with their fifth year in detail, but does make a few references to it. The focus of my writing is dealing with characters, relationships and emotions, and I chose not to deal with You Know Who. Perhaps if, when I wrote a short scene back in 2001, I had realized it would turn into this epic, I might have done things differently - but there you go. This wasn't planned and is still growing!

Before reading this book, I suggest you read Book One in the series: The Winds of Change. I also wrote a kind of 'interlude' called The Daily Prophet, which gives some of the wizarding world's reactions to the events in Book One.

I began writing Book Two - The Ways of the Worlds - in May 2002, but the progress was slow and at this point in time it is still not finished. However, I will begin re-publishing this story chapter by chapter and will, hopefully, catch up with myself and complete the book. The reason for the long delay is my struggle with Depression. Re-reading and finishing this book is intended as part of my therapy - so please be patient! I'll be making some changes from the way it was originally published, to correct awkward wording or to improve chapters I'm not happy with, but the plot will remain the same.

Thanks to all of you for your support and encouragement over the past few years - it's meant a great deal to me!

Enjoy!

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Chapter One - Diagon Alley **

The street outside the bookshop was busy, and Hermione stopped for a moment to enjoy the hustle and bustle around her. Cars weaved along the street, and pedestrians jostled for space on the pavement. They hurried along either alone, looking straight ahead of them, or chatting noisily in groups. The occasional waft of cigarette smoke caught Hermione's breath, mingled with the fumes of cars and the drifting smells of hamburgers from the fast-food place across the road. Stepping aside to dodge a man who was far too busy with his cell phone conversation to watch where he was going, she almost stepped in front of a cyclist, who swerved to avoid her, swearing loudly.

She jumped aside again, positioning herself next to a lamppost, out of the main flow of bodies, and looked back towards the shops, smiling. The spotty assistant in the record shop had insisted on trying to sell her a CD, and had seemed very skeptical at her insistence that she had never heard of the song he was trying to sell her. Didn't she own a radio? With no intention of buying anything, she had simply been browsing - enjoying looking at the muggle items, and absorbing the atmosphere.

In the bookshop, however, there had been no such complications. She had emerged with a heavy bag, weighed down with texts, glad that it was her final stop - no point in carrying so many books across London.

If the hurrying muggles had taken a moment to stop and look about them, they might have thought that the small pub (which, muggles or not, they could have seen if only they had been paying attention), wedged awkwardly between the two shops, looked out of place. To Hermione, however, it was the brightly-lit signs and large glass windows on either side that seemed wrong. Cold, hard commercialism neighboring a place that now represented the comfort and security of the 'real' world. Her visits to the muggle world, of which this had been the first since Christmas, no longer represented 'going home', and had not done so for several years, although she would not have admitted that, even to herself, until recently. Here, she was now a tourist - an outsider - and she was comfortable with that role. This was no longer where she belonged, but she still looked on it with fondness - like a childish bedroom, long-since outgrown, but still holding memories of who she used to be.

With a last look around her, she headed quickly for the door to the Leaky Cauldron, and slipped inside, reaching for her wand as she did so.

"Reveal," she murmured.

The spell that had surrounded her was lifted, and the illusion of muggle clothes faded, to reveal her own long, dark green robes.

The darkness inside the pub was a sharp contrast from the brightness outside, and it took Hermione's eyes a moment to adjust.

It was more crowded than she had seen it before, with knots of people sitting around tables, or standing at the bar. The barman had just begun to serve lunches, and the smell of freshly-baked pies made Hermione hungry after her tiring morning. As she struggled inside with her heavy bags, she felt the tone of the conversation's hum change slightly, and many pairs of eyes turn towards her. Ignoring the whispers as she passed, she headed for an empty table in the corner, and dropped her bags onto the seat.

As she turned towards the bar, a familiar voice called her name from across the room, and she turned to see Ron just arriving from the Diagon Alley side of the pub, followed closely by Harry.

"Ron. Harry," she smiled, and hugged them both as they reached her. "It's good to see you!"

"You too. We've just arrived," Harry told her. "We came straight round to look for you."

"So, where's Severus?" asked Ron.

Hermione explained that he would be arriving soon. "I've been visiting my parents for a couple of days," she said, "and we arranged to meet here."

Ron looked flabbergasted. "You mean ... you spent time away from each other?" he teased, earning himself a friendly punch in the arm.

As they had been talking, the barman had headed towards them and now stood smiling at them all. Harry greeted him warmly, and the old wizard seemed overwhelmed to be remembered.

"Mr. Potter," he said, bowing slightly. "An honor, as always. Mr. Weasley - welcome." He turned to Hermione. "Mrs. Snape?"

Hermione smiled at the name.

"Your husband got here an hour or two since, and went into the Alley," he said. "He booked a room for you both."

The barman kindly offered to have Hermione's things taken to her room, and laughing happily, the three friends headed for Diagon Alley.

To reach the courtyard at the back, however, they had to pass through the busiest part of the pub, and it became clear that they would not be able to escape as easily as they had hoped. An elderly witch had jumped to her feet, and was eager not to let Harry leave so soon.

"It is such a pleasure to see you again, Mr. Potter," she said, gripping Harry's hand and shaking it vigorously.

Evidently, Harry knew her. "Hello, Mrs. Crockford," he replied politely, while trying to extricate himself from her grip.

Eventually, and with ill-concealed reluctance, Mrs. Crockford gave up her prize to the others who wished to speak to the celebrity, and she turned, for the sake of politeness, to shake hands with Ron. When she spotted Hermione, she stopped.

"Why, you're the girl who married a teacher!" she exclaimed, loudly.

Despite Hermione's smile, the older witch seemed to feel pity for her, rather than happiness. She leaned close, taking both Hermione's hands in her own, and said softly, "You know, if you realize that you've made a mistake, child, there are places you can go for help." She squeezed Hermione's hands. "This shouldn't have to affect your whole life. There are ways out of it."

Taken aback by the unexpected reaction, Hermione said in a surprised voice, "I'm very happy!"

The response seemed only to strengthen Mrs. Crockford's concerns. "Such a brave child," she murmured, sadly, then turned away, shaking her head in pity.

By now, more people had crowded around Harry, shaking his hand and patting him on the back. Although most were less keen to approach Hermione openly, she heard plenty of comments about her, mingled with those to or about Harry.

"Isn't he handsome? Tragic to lose his parents like that."

"You wouldn't think she was so devious, to look at her."

"I think it's very romantic, to have a small wedding."

"See his scar?"

"Lovely to see you looking so well after all that business with You-Know-Who last year."

"Apparently, she didn't do any work for her exams. He wrote them all for her."

"I think he's grown taller."

It took several minutes to push their way through the crowd, and emerge into the courtyard.

Ron had been extremely quiet, and Hermione felt real sympathy for him. Now, he not only had to deal with Harry being the center of attention, but Hermione was also getting her share of notice. It could not be easy for him. However, it was clear that he was used to it, and he gave his friends a cheery smile. "S'pose that's what you get for being famous!"

Taking out his wand, Ron tapped the wall above the dustbin. Hermione watched as the bricks seemed to move aside, forming an archway, through which she could see the familiar cobbles of Diagon Alley.

* * *

"Is that him?" 

"Shhh!"

Severus Snape paid no attention to the whispering behind him. At first, he had not even noticed it - it was mumbled and indistinct, and he had no interest in the gossip of others - but something about this latest exchange had caught his attention. The little girl seemed unaware that her words were audible, but the mother seemed to be caught between the wish to exercise a little discretion and her own piqued curiosity.

Resolutely, he acted as though he had not heard a word, keeping his back to the whisperers.

"Will that be all, Professor Snape?" the tall wizard behind the counter asked him politely.

"See?" came the whispered voice of triumph from behind him.

Snape nodded. "These are for my personal stores," he said, indicating a collection of bottles, jars and packets neatly set apart from the large supply on the counter. "The rest are on the Hogwarts account."

Leaving instructions for the Hogwarts supplies to be sent on to the school, and taking his own carefully wrapped package with him, he turned. The owners of the whispering voices shrank back - the mother no less so than the daughter - as he caught their eyes, then he strode briskly from the Apothecary.

There were several stops to be made in Diagon Alley. Snape was irritated to find that Madam Malkin, for the first time since he had begun teaching, did not have his new robes ready for him.

"Well, Professor," she explained, "I really didn't know if you would be coming in this year... what, with things being so ... different."

Snape frowned. "I still need robes," he told the yellow-robed witch.

"I didn't ... I...," she stammered in discomfort. "I thought that maybe you wouldn't be teaching this year, after..."

Pointedly, Snape said nothing, allowing her to continue in confusion.

"... Well, I see that erm...," finally, she seemed to give in to the inevitable. "Two sets of black robes, as usual? They will be ready by the morning, Professor."

He nodded his thanks and turned to leave, but Madam Malkin called out to him and he turned back.

"Professor? Will ... Mrs. Snape be requiring new robes?"

He raised an eyebrow. "I believe she plans to call in, this afternoon."

As he left the shop, he reflected on the reactions of the people he had encountered so far that morning. Malkin's initial reaction had been typical, but the apparent warming of her attitude (or was it merely curiosity to see Hermione?) certainly was not. At the Apothecary - his most important stop - it had been a relief to be treated as though nothing was unusual - especially after the less-than-warm welcome from several of the other shopkeepers.

It was in the streets where he had received the worst reactions. Passers-by had glared at him or openly pointed as he passed. Some did not even bother to whisper, and their feelings had been made all too clear.

He could hardly have expected anything else. He had lost count of the number of Howlers he had received following the breaking of the news. Enraged parents, school governors - witches and wizards from all over the country - had felt the need to make their outrage clear. Hermione had received fewer, but was still troubled by them. This was, in part, alleviated by an owl received from Grendel Moldbury Arkletan, who congratulated them both on the marriage, and seemed rather amused to tell them that Hermione's notoriety was doing wonders for the sale of the book to which she had contributed! Even this, though, could not entirely counteract the negativity of the less pleasant post.

The biggest recipient of Howlers was Dumbledore. He had not been happy that his Potions Master had thrown all pretense aside and 'announced' the relationship to the school like that, but he had shown none of the anger for which he would have been completely justified. The expression on his face for the next few weeks had simply been one of weariness, making the younger wizard feel far worse than anything his mentor could have said.

Three times since the end of school, the newly-weds had returned to Hogwarts. Despite his misgivings, and being credited with most of the blame for the situation, Dumbledore was happy for them. That much was clear, but Snape wished there was some way to make things easier for his long-suffering friend.

Something that certainly would have made things easier for Snape would have been to visit Diagon Alley earlier in the summer, as he usually did. The last week before the start of school was always busy and, even under normal circumstances, he would rather avoid running into the students and parents as they prepared for the return to Hogwarts. This year, much as it pained him, encountering the students was at least partially intentional. Apart from their trips to Hogwarts, he and Hermione had not left Haven since the news of the wedding had broken at the end of term, and there would be much gossip on their first appearance together in public. In the interests of allowing the fuss to encroach as little as possible into school time, it would be preferable to get it over with as early as possible.

That said, both might still have chosen to forego the ordeal had it not been for Hermione's arrangement to meet up with her friends. Snape knew how much she was looking forward to seeing them. He could not say that he would be thrilled at the meeting - Severus Snape was not a social animal - but he really didn't mind too much. They were her friends, and he would make an effort to be sociable, as he knew that they would, for her sake. Strangely enough, being friendly towards them was not quite as difficult as he would have expected.

It was approaching lunchtime, and he began to make his way back towards the Leaky Cauldron. Hermione would have left her parents' house early that morning, and was making her way to Diagon Alley by muggle means. He had not fully understood her when she had told him about how she would be traveling, and he felt a little apprehensive at the thought.

Don't be a fool, Severus, he told himself. She has her wand with her, and she is perfectly capable of taking care of herself.

As he neared the pub, he stopped. He was not sure what it was, but something was not right. He turned and scanned the street behind him.

An uneasy feeling came over him, and he found himself unaccountably drawn back the way he had just come. Far ahead of him, just about to disappear into Flourish and Blotts, was Lucius Malfoy. Without knowing the reason why, he followed.

* * *

The Wizarding World was full of wonderful places, but to Harry, Ron and Hermione, Diagon Alley was one of the best. Even Ron, who had grown up surrounded by Magic, thought that this place was special. They grinned at each other and stepped forward, allowing the wall to close behind them. 

"So where do you think Severus will be?" Harry asked.

Hermione thought. "He needed some things from the Apothecary and from Flourish and Blotts."

"The bookshop," groaned Ron, sarcastically. "How did I know we'd end up there?"

Hermione rolled her eyes, and the three set off down the street, chatting as they went. She wanted to hear everything about their summer. Harry had been staying at the Burrow over the holidays, but this year he and Ron had chosen to come to Diagon Alley alone.

"Mum already had something planned for today, so she came with Ginny last week," Ron explained.

"It's probably for the best, anyway," said Harry.

Something about the tone caught Hermione's attention. She looked quizzically from one to the other, and Ron looked uncomfortable.

"Mum ... isn't very happy about the idea of you and Severus being married," he told her, awkwardly. "She was all for sending a Howler, but Dad managed to talk her out of it."

"It's probably better for Severus not to run into her right now," said Harry.

Hermione groaned. She thought the world of Ron's mum, but this was not the first time that she had taken something at face value and got angry without knowing all the facts. The thought of her being angry at Severus pained her. That damned Skeeter woman!

Still, there was nothing that could be done about it. She and Severus would have to deal with that at some point, but for now all Hermione wanted to do was enjoy her time with her friends.

They reached Flourish and Blotts, and peered inside. There was no sign of Snape, but all three needed to go there, so they headed into the shop. In addition to the larger-than-usual list of books for their seventh-year, Harry wanted to pick up some books on Quidditch for the Gryffindor team, and Hermione, naturally, wanted to go far beyond the required reading list.

All along one wall of the shop were shelves of the Hogwarts books needed for every year of the school - the familiar volumes of The Standard Book of Spells, and books on everything from Charms to Ancient Runes. Harry nudged his friends as they saw four nervous-looking boys picking out their books for the first year.

"A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration," one of them read aloud. "What's Transfiguration?"

The others shrugged.

"Dunno," said the tallest of the group, with a gulp, "but it sounds painful."

After quickly collecting the books from her list, Hermione headed deeper into the shop. Neatly organized along narrow aisles of shelves, were row after row of tomes of spells, potions, charms and curses. One section included old and dusty books of all shapes and sizes on the History of magic, and right next to it was a section on the future, about predictions, crystal-ball gazing and tea-leaves.

Wandering up and down the rows, Hermione picked up books and thumbed through them with interest. Smiling, however, she put them back on the shelves. With the number of books she was planning to take back to school with her from Severus' shelves at Haven, she hardly needed to buy more!

A commotion close to the door caught her attention, and she headed towards the noise. Seamus Finnegan had arrived with Neville Longbottom and Dean Thomas, and between the three of them, they had managed to cause quite a disturbance. Zooming around above their heads was a small book, which darted from one to the other of them, always just out of reach. As others looked on, the three Gryffindors chased around, trying to capture it, without much success. The four boys who had been collecting their first-year books watched in awe, as the older boys laughed and dived around after the evasive object.

Finally, with the bookshop owner trying to join in the chase, Neville made a leap in the air, and grabbed at the book's spine. His jump sent him flying sideways into a large stack of volumes, which toppled over into the stack next to it. Domino-like, six piles of heavy books fell, one after the other, each knocking over the next. As the final pile hit the floor with a crash, Neville, lying full-length amid the books, sat up with a comical look, somewhere between guilt and triumph, on his face. Looking around him at the crowd staring down, he held up the book, still attempting to flutter away, for all to see. The title read _Flying with Grace and Style_.

"I got it," he said, meekly.

With the excitement over, the crowd around them began to return to their shopping, but as Dean helped Neville to his feet and saw Hermione, she suddenly found the attention shifted to her.

"Hermione," said Seamus, rushing towards her. "Is it true?"

"You married Snape?" gasped Dean.

Hermione giggled. She just couldn't help being happy about this. Thinking about being married to him was a joy. She nodded, and watched their dumfounded looks.

"Snape?" said Neville, incredulously.

"Yes," she confirmed. "We got married a few days before the end of term."

More students had arrived, including a small knot of Hufflepuff third-years, whom Hermione knew only by sight. As they nervously approached to join the conversation, their parents moved to look at the books in the window, pretending not to be listening.

"Hi, Hermione," said one of the younger girls. "Did you really marry Professor Snape? We saw you from the train, and we thought it must be a spell or something that made you both do that."

Ron jumped in. "Nope. They're really hitched."

"The Daily Prophet said..."

Hermione snorted. "The Daily Prophet said a lot of rubbish," she stated, matter-of-factly. "But it is true that we're married. We were seeing each other for most of the year."

All the students looked shocked. Of all the Hogwarts teachers, Professor Snape had to be the most disliked and feared. No one could have imagined him having a 'human' side, and certainly not a romantic and loving aspect to his character. In other circumstances, Hermione would have felt the same way, but it was still amusing to see the reactions of others.

"Amazing!" said one of the other third-years. "He's always scared me."

Neville gulped. "You're not the only one!"

"Did you know?" Dean asked, looking at Harry and Ron.

Harry grinned. "Not at first, but we kind of ... found out."

The memory came clearly to Hermione's mind - the surprise as her lover had crept up on her, then the shock as Harry, misunderstanding the situation, had thrown off his invisibility cloak and leapt to her defense. That had also been the night Dumbledore's suspicions had been confirmed.

"And we went to the wedding," added Ron. "It was really sudden. Snape just decided to ask her, and they got married that night."

The others gaped. "Potions lessons are going to be really weird this year!" said Seamus. "D'you think you can get him to let us off homework?"

Hermione was about to reply, but was interrupted by a familiar drawling voice from the shop doorway.

"I wouldn't be counting on much of a change in Severus Snape's character." Lucius Malfoy stepped forward with a sneer on his face. "I think you will still find him to be the same foul, contemptible traitor that he has always been."

Hermione said nothing, but stood defiantly before him, while most of the others shrank back. Beside her, she could sense Harry and Ron reaching for their wands, but, like her, they made no other move.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Malfoy," the shopkeeper called out, hoping to diffuse a little of the tension in the air. Malfoy ignored him, watching Hermione as he slowly approached her.

"I was surprised, though," he mused. "It's not like Snape to show such weakness. Perhaps his guard is beginning to slip."

Carefully, Hermione kept her expression calm. "What do you want, Malfoy?" she demanded, softly.

The wizard glared at her. "We'll have a little less of your insolence, Mudblood," he snarled. "It's _Mr_. Malfoy to you. But then you always have been too far above yourself."

He closed on her, and reached out to take her chin firmly between thumb and forefinger, forcing it upwards, to look into her face.

"Hardly worthy of a pureblood family," he commented. "Even Snape's."

Hermione stood her ground without flinching. There was no way she was prepared to show weakness in front of this offensive man, and she knew that he could do nothing to her in the middle of a crowded bookshop. She just hoped that Harry and Ron would do nothing to give Malfoy an excuse to make further trouble.

All thoughts of Harry and Ron taking on the wizard were pushed from her mind a moment later, though, as a dangerous voice spoke from the shop doorway.

"Malfoy." The voice was a low growl - quiet, but still able to carry through the shop and capture everyone's attention. "I would advise you to take your hand off my wife."

A malicious smile spread over Malfoy's face as he released Hermione and turned slowly to face Snape.

A glow touched Hermione's heart at the sight of her husband standing in the doorway, wand drawn and looking dark and menacing. At the back of her mind, she realized how bizarre it was for her first thought to be about how her husband's presence affected her, but she just couldn't help herself. The others drew back even further.

"With pleasure, Severus," Malfoy sneered. "I would not wish to sully myself with her touch. I'm surprised you don't feel the same way. I know how you've always felt about Mudbloods. Or haven't you gone into details about your past with your wife?"

The shopkeeper, apparently braver than most, decided that it was time to intervene. This was not the first time that Lucius Malfoy's presence in Flourish and Blotts had caused problems. "Gentlemen. Gentlemen!"

Snape's face was impassive. "I thought you would have learned by now, Lucius, not to take me on. Perhaps you remember nothing of the past?"

For a second, Hermione thought she saw a flicker of fear in Malfoy's face, but then it was gone. The events of the fifth-year had once again set Harry against Voldemort, and Severus' allegiance had been questioned by all. How he had assured Voldemort of his loyalty, Hermione did not know, but she knew that Lucius could never have trusted him again. Voldemort's defeat, for which Harry had almost paid with his life, had left Malfoy in no doubt of Snape's feelings, but on challenging him, Malfoy had definitely come off worst.

The response from Malfoy was cold. "You are far too sure of yourself, Severus. I would have thought you would have more sense than to display your ..." his eyes flickered towards Hermione " ... vulnerabilities so openly."

He moved towards the door, and stopped in front of Snape, who was still blocking his exit. For a moment, they faced each other, eyes locked, then Snape stepped backwards to allow the other to pass, watching the disappearing figure before stepping into the shop.

Most people would not have detected the changes in Snape's expression as he moved towards her, but she knew his face well enough to see his reaction as he suddenly realized that all eyes were on him. He glanced quickly at the faces around him, then she saw his discomfort turn to mischief, and the corners of his mouth twitch into the faintest of smiles as he focused his eyes on hers. He strode forward and drew her calmly into his arms, bending to kiss her lips in a short embrace.

"Have you been here long, my love?" he asked, not loudly, but knowing that everyone could hear the term of endearment.

She smiled up at him. "Not long," she said, softly. "I left my things at the pub and came straight out to look for you."

Gradually, people realized that they had been staring, and they turned to their own business. Students, parents and other shoppers began browsing the shelves once again, and the murmur of conversation returned to the shop.

Within a few minutes, Hermione and Snape, Ron and Harry were heading back towards the Leaky Cauldron for lunch. Witches and wizards in the street, both strangers and those whom Hermione knew as Hogwarts students and parents, stared at the sight of the teacher and student walking hand-in-hand, in conversation with the famous Harry Potter and his friend.

None of them mentioned Lucius Malfoy, but his words rang through Hermione's mind. The way he had looked at her when he commented on Severus' 'vulnerabilities' had sent a chill down her spine. What had he meant by that, she wondered?

Even without knowing all the details, she knew that Malfoy saw Severus as a threat. Until today, she would not have thought him confident enough to challenge the wizard who had defeated him. Since their last encounter, and with Voldemort gone, the Death Eater had been conspicuously subdued, and his sudden boldness made her nervous. It had been an eventful visit to Diagon Alley so far, and something told her that Lucius Malfoy was going to be trouble.

_

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A/N: This chapter written: May-2002. Last updated on: 30-May-2006 _


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